The Always Attractive"Playoff" Beard

For those of you on campus this past winter you will remember the unusual amount of beards running around the quarter mile... the facial hair was not a response to the snow fall or wind chill hitting the campus, but a response to the mens hockey team making the playoffs.

The "playoff beard" originated in the 1980s by the New York Islanders... but the tradition did not catch until the New Jersey Devils dawned beards and won the Cup in 1995. Now the beard is a tradition practiced by almost all North American hockey leagues, including our RIT boys.

The idea of the playoff beard is this: when ones team makes the playoffs, players stop shaving their beards until their team is eliminated or wins the title (such as the Stanley Cup).

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At RIT our boys rocked the beards during their adventures in the Final Four.... as did some die-heart fans who stopped shaving until our boys came home to Rochester.

Needless to say it was a hairy winter season.... I only bring up the subject because it appears the tradition is spreading beyond the hockey rink. My brother Justin recently moved back to campus a few weeks ago for football camp - where he and his fellow teammates have decided to grow "pre-season" beards....not shaving until their first game in September.

That's certainly on way to bond with your teammates! Here is Justin's beard after one week... its going to be a hott august for these boys!

Dr. Destler loves the Orange Hair Challenge for supporting the basket ball games.... maybe we should ask him to participate in the "Beard-a-Thon" for our hockey boys.... have you ever seen an orange beard??